Erosion Testing

DNVGL-RP-0171

Are you looking for ways to evaluate the durability of your wind turbine blade surface material in the face of harsh weather conditions? Have you considered rain erosion testing? Are you aware that this type of testing is commonly used in a range of industries from aerospace and automotive to wind turbine blades?

Do you know how rain erosion testing works?

Essentially, it involves equipment (rain erosion test rig), high quality specimens (test substrates) and evaluation (skilled experienced engineers) to simulated rains exposure on wind turbine blades in operation by measuring their resistance to erosion. By doing so, engineers can identify the best materials for critical applications and ensure they meet requirements.

Why rain erosion testing on wind turbine blades?

The leading edge of a wind turbine blade is exposed to rough conditions during operation. This sets high demands to the leading edge protection (LEP) solution.

The various LEP solutions must withstand extreme conditions, and therefore testing them is essential to understand their erosion behaviour and performance.

Accelerated Rain Erosion Testing of a leading edge solution not only proves the performance of the product, but also enhances the understanding of failure modes and is therefore extremely valuable to the customer.

With the vast experience on LEP solutions in AeroNordic and a growing demand from both OEMs and material suppliers, we have decided to expand our services to include Rain Erosion Testing iaw. DNVGL-RP-0171.

What kind of test specimens (substrate) should I use?

The construction of the substrate plays a vital role in the resulting performance of any Leading Edge Protection solution. In the new recommended practice from the DNV-GL work group, the substrates are required to reflect the actual blade substrate construction.

Our technicians are experienced in processing virtually every known blade production and repair solution.

This allows us to support the customers to validate their Leading Edge Protection solution for every operational blade type currently available.
This test rig combined with the processing skills of our workshop gives AeroNordic a unique position in the wind industry as an independent 3rd party facility.